The dispensing of controlled substances is subject to various state and federal regulations for obvious reasons. Health care facilities have developed various manual procedures and multiple locks to comply with security and accounting requirements, which unfortunately interfere with rapid dispensing of drugs. Automated systems for dispensing drug doses in response to programmed information have been developed they are very complex and affordable only for large scale applications. They are not stand-alone units suitable for installation at a nursing station at a health care facility. A prior art search was conducted and the following U.S. patents were uncovered.
a) U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,954 granted to Rose et al on Sep. 22, 1987 for "Modular Medication Dispensing System and Apparatus Utilizing Portable Memory Device"
b) U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,901 granted to Patrick Buttarazzi on Oct. 15, 1985 for "Apparatus for Dispensing Medication"
c) U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,362 granted to Manabu Haraguchi on Mar. 22, 1988 for "Drug Dispensing Apparatus with a Printer having programmable format."
d) U.S. Pat. No. 4,473,884 granted to Robert Behl on Sep. 25, 1984 for "Electronic Medication Dispensing System"
e) U.S. Pat. No. 4,847,764 granted to Jerry Halverson on Jul. 11, 1989 for "System for Dispensing Drugs in Health Care Institutions"
f) U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,969 granted to John McLaughlin on Nov. 22, 1988 for "Medication Dispensing System"
g) U.S. Pat. No. 3,712,507 granted to W W Holt on Jan. 23, 1973 for "Article Dispensing Apparatus and Methods"
h) U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,403 granted to Rafael Benaroya on Feb. 25, 1986 for "Timed Dispensing Device for Tablets, Capsules and the Like"
i) U.S. PAt. No. 4,747,514 granted to Forest Stone on May 31, 1988 for "Electronically Controlled Programmable Dispenser for Medications"
j) U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,810 granted to Lee Christiansen on Aug. 16, 1988 for "Medication Dispenser"
k) U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,045 granted to Williams et al on Nov. 4, 1975 for "Drug Dispensing Apparatus"
Unfortunately prior art embodiments do not meet all of the objectives established by the inventors for this autonomous controlled drug dispensing system as follows.
a) It is an objective of this invention to provide a stand-alone, rapid, automated secure system of drug dispensing suitable for installation at a nursing station in a health care facility.
b) Another objective of this invention is to provide record keeping and strict accounting of all drugs used as well as returned unused drugs.
c) Another objective of this invention is to provide advisory and precautionary drug information prior to or concurrently with the dispensing of the drug.
d) Another objective of this invention is to automatically provide inventory update and patient billing data on demand.
e) Another objective of this invention is to incorporate a return slot for unused drugs.
f) Another objective of this invention is to permit only authorized nurses to access the system.
g) Another objective of this invention is to simplify and speed up the replenishing of the drugs periodically.
h) Another objective of this invention is to incorporate an alarm system to alarm the supervisory personnel if the system is tampered with.
i) Another objective of this invention is to include a real time clock to automatically record date and time of each drug dispensed.
j) Another objective of this invention is to provide a back up power source such that the system can be used in case of a power failure.
k) Another objective of this invention is to provide an automatic data back up periodically on a computer readable media.
l) Another objective of this invention is to facilitate compliance with all state and federal regulations associated with dispensing of drugs in health care facilities.
m) Another objective of this invention is to make the unit theft proof by securely integrating and anchoring it to the cabinetry of the nursing station at a health care facility.
n) Another objective of this invention is to obviate the need for finding the supervisory nurse with the keys before a nurse can obtain drugs for a critical patient.
o) Another objective of this invention is that the system be flexible and programmable such that it can be reprogrammed to meet the changing needs of a health care institution.
p) Other objects of this invention reside in its simplicity, elegance, aesthetics, ease of use, ease of maintenance, ease of manufacture, ease of replenishing inventory, high reliability and flexibility as will become apparent from the following brief description of the drawing and the detailed description of the alternate and preferred embodiments.